Well, dear readers, another day of zippy notes because I am still dealing with silly computer issues, which I will go into more detail about tomorrow. Hopefully what we’ve done today fixes everything and now my computer and I can live in a happy Technicolor tomorrow.
Last night, I started watching a motion picture entitled Wolfen on a brand spanking new DVD. I have never seen the motion picture entitled Wolfen, but I’d heard it was interesting and pretty good, and it fits right in with the rest of my bug and animal movies that I’ve been watching lately. And so far, aside from the fact that it’s a bit gruesome, it’s very well done and I must say that I do love Albert Finney as an actor. I’ll have a full report after I finish watching. I do find it interesting that the director of this film had previously only made the film Woodstock, and that after this film he pretty much disappeared off the face of this earth (I believe Wolfen did okay at the box-office, and I do remember it getting decent reviews, so it’s not like it was a disaster or anything). Does anyone know what happened to Michael Wadleigh?
I hope all of you are getting your excellent questions ready, because tomorrow is Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me any questions you like. I’m not certain how many more Ask BK Days we’ll have, so do ask any questions you haven’t asked but have been meaning to. Unless you all really feel that Ask BK Day is one of your favorites, in which case I’ll keep it going until one of you commits Hari-Kari or, at the very least, commits Harry Carey. And we are going to have an Ask Guy Haines Day very very soon.
Because of the notes the other day, I went out and bought The Ultimate Manilow CD. I’ve been listening to it in the car, and I must say I do still like a lot of these songs very much. It’s very interesting to listen to the progression, and hear how “overproduced” some of the later stuff is, and then how he gets back to a slightly simpler and cleaner sound. It’s also interesting to note how ragged his voice is occasionally and how that actually works for him. It’s a good collection, twenty songs in all, but it’s only the biggest hits. Funnily, I had no Barry CDs in my closet (yes, Virginia, all my CDs are kept in a large closet in my book room – and I must tell you it is fairly bursting at the seams and it is quite unseemly-looking in there right now).
Well, I have an idea. What do you say we all click on the Unseemly Button below to see what’s going on in the next section? There might be something very very very (that is three verys) important going on in the next section and I, for one, am incredibly curious as to what it might be. And don’t forget, curiousity killed the cat. The poor cat is now dead as a doornail and all because curiousity killed it. I knew that curiousity didn’t really care for cats all that much, and curiousity really didn’t care for Cats all that much, but I had no idea curiousity was a cold-blooded murderer of cats. What the hell am I talking about? And one other thing – are there any alive doornails?
Nope, nothing terribly important going on here. In fact, when I got here all I saw was a blank page, which I am now filling up with words, words, and more words. We had faces then, we didn’t need words. Let us all mourn the fershluganah cat. Le Chat est morte, as dear reader Francois would say.
I am happy to inform you that I have finally stumped the trivia players. No fully correct answers this week, although many people got partially correct answers. Here was the question:
This hit musical was adapted from a hit movie. This hit musical had a movie star in its lead. This hit musical also featured two performers who would subsequently appear in major television series. This hit musical had in its ensemble someone who would go on to win a Tony Award. The road tour of this hit musical featured someone who would have their name popularized on a television series. Finally, someone on the creative team of this hit musical would go on to become one of the first people to start the resurgence of cabaret entertainment.
Name the musical
Name the two performers who would go on to appear in major television series, and the names of those series.
Name the ensemble member who would win a Tony.
Name the road tour performer who would have their name popularized on a television series.
Name the member of the creative team.
And the answers are:
The musical: Applause
The two performers: Bonnie Franklin (One Day at a Time) and Robert Mandan (Soap)
Ensemble member who would win a Tony: Sammy Williams for A Chorus Line (and Nicholas Dante, too)
Road performer who would have their name popularized on a tv series: This was the real stumper that no one got. Miss Franklin’s role on the road was played by Leland Palmer. David Lynch, in one of his frequent quirky moments, named a male character in Twin Peaks after her.
Member of the creative team: Ron Field’s associate choreographer, Tom Rolla, who would open the Gardenia Club in Los Angeles, one of the first to help in the resurgence of cabaret entertainers.
Today I shall be lunching with my friend Penny Peyser, at the Cheesecake Factory, where I shall eat too much damn food. Penny is a fine actress, and she’s also been doing some casting lately and, in fact, cast my recording of Beyond Therapy, which is about to come out at long last. Penny starred in the second production of my musical comedy entitled Together Again (and appears on its cast album) and she also starred in The In-Laws, that very funny motion picture with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. She plays opposite Mr. Michael Lembeck in that film. Mr. Michael Lembeck is now a well-known director in television. But there is something that you might not know about Mr. Michael Lembeck and that is that he was “best man” at my wedding, way back in 1968. If one is no longer married do you call it an ex-wedding? Penny was also in All the President’s Men, Rich Man, Poor Man, Book II, and the series Crazy Like a Fox. What am I, her agent all of a sudden. Anyway, it will be very nice to see her again. She’s just gotten married for the third time and hopefully the third time will be the charm for Miss Penny Peyser.
I got a flyer from the Nuart Theater here in Los Angeles, which is for the most part a revival house. They are doing a whole week of films from 1962, which they are calling the best year in movie history. Now that, of course, is hyperbole, but I must say as I looked at what they’re showing, it was an absolutely amazing year and they haven’t even scratched the surface of it. Surely, there hasn’t been a year in the last twenty years that can even approach the handful of films they are showing from 1962. Here’s the list, which doesn’t even include Lawrence of Arabia: Sweet Bird of Youth, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Manchurian Candidate, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Longest Day, Sundays and Cybele, Through a Glass Darkly, Lolita and Days of Wine and Roses. That is a fairly extraordinary list, isn’t it? And what’s lovely about it is that most of the films are smaller-type films and every film on that list save one, is in black-and-white. There were other great films that year, and even the lesser films of that year were pretty terrific. Can some of you name some of the other great and near-great pictures of 1962?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must get in my automobile and make my rounds and also my squares and triangles. Have I mentioned that curiousity killed the cat? Le chat est morte. Today’s topic of discussion: Name your favorite movie year, and which films would be included. Post away, my pretties.